Executive Director John Dieffenbacher-Krall at the Wabanaki Alliance Lobby Day in 2023.
Wabanaki Alliance Executive Director John Dieffenbacher-Krall is set to retire at the end of 2024. Penobscot Nation Ambassador and Wabanaki Alliance President Maulian Bryant offered these thoughts on Dieffenbacher-Krall’s service:
In the 129th Maine State Legislature, Wabanaki Tribal leaders came together in good faith to work with state government on repairing the tense and at times broken relationship that had steadily deteriorated since the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement and Implementing Acts. These acts had repeatedly been interpreted in a way that undermined the inherent tribal sovereignty of our nations and exacerbated the inequity and unjust treatment of our people and communities since the dark days of colonization and the creation of “Maine” in our homelands.
While we have a long way to go towards healing, we have sparked some good positive change and we have made progress since seizing on the moment and creating the Wabanaki Alliance. The purpose of the alliance is to educate and advocate around the necessary steps we need to take together as a state to fully recognize and advance Wabanaki self-determination. We formed in 2020 to unify our voices as Wabanaki Nations in a fresh way that draws on our thousands of years of being in our confederacy together.
Anniversary vigil marking the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Part of our initial efforts to organize around these needed changes was to select an Executive Director. Our board and advisory board, composed entirely of tribal leaders from all five reservation communities, conducted a search and after a collaborative effort we decided to offer the position to John Dieffenbacher-Krall.
John brought to this role several decades of experience from grassroots and community organizing to Executive Director roles with both the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission. John also had long-standing relationships with several tribal citizens and leadership from his work leading the Episcopal Committee on Indian Relations and utilizing his skills to be a stand-up ally and a good friend.
John joined us in 2021 and let us know immediately that he had a retirement date in mind and that this would be his last place of employment, and he felt really good about that. His career of pursuing justice and being a voice for change exemplified his core values and he was excited to lend his talents to the Wabanaki Alliance as his twilight years in the workforce.
2023 Indigenous Peoples Day.
Over the last three years under John’s leadership, we have seen the Wabanaki Alliance grow not just in numbers and achievements, but in spirit and momentum. You can plant a lot of seeds in life but if you do not put in the hard work of cultivating those seeds what lies before you is lots of untapped potential and wasted soil. Thanks to the influence of John on our organization we have a thriving garden of relationships, ideas, goals, and strategies yet to come. We are thankful for his time with us and know that our harvest may start small but will grow each year and that is the power of building with the next seven generations always in our hearts and minds.
We are on the verge of lasting and meaningful change. As Chief Clarissa Sabattis said in her remarks during the historic State of the Tribes address in 2023: “Our success is your success…..I look forward to our continued partnership and forging a new path forward that is not only better for our tribe(s), but is also better for this great state we all call home.” We believe that Mainers are ready to see us as equals, as partners, and as friends. And the work of the alliance and our coalition has been invaluable in that progress.
2024 Nihkaniyane at the Abbe Museum.
The Wabanaki Alliance board and advisory board want to thank John for his part in bringing about a new dawn in tribal-state relations and we wish him a peaceful and well-deserved retirement. We are excited for our next chapter and so thankful he helped us draft it. We will be starting our search for our new Executive Director and we welcome the assistance of our supporters and coalition members by sharing the posting with your networks. We thank you all for all you do to support the good work of restoration of our inherent tribal sovereignty in our homelands now called Maine.
